The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1887-02-26
UNCLE JOHNS ASTRONOMY.

Something About n Great Group OF Star,
Called the "Dippcr," and How to Find
the "North STAR"
u. J.-Well, here we are, and am
very glad to see you! Seven o'clock
and all on time, ready for our first talk.
But before we begin, Sarah, will you
please bring me about half dipper OF
water? On the farm, and in the school
room, love to drink out of dipper.
Thank you! Adams ale forever
George, will you describe dipperp
Ga dipper is made of tin, and it
has cup to hold the water, or any
thing; and it has handle to hold it by,
and ring to hang it up by.
q. J.-Very good. Are all dippefs
made of tin, Ella?
E.-No, sir. Ihave seen them made
of wood. And my aunt has one made
of a gourd.
U. J.-Yes, gourds make very nice
dippers. Cup, handle, ring. Let me
show you a dipper that have here.
This is a map of the solar system on
this side; and here, on the other side,
is my dipper. Sammie, what do you
say this one is made of?
81 should say it was meant to look
like dipper, and it is made of paint.
1t looks like lot of stars, with lines
between them.
o. $50 it does. Now I will take
this crayon, and put the stars on the
blackboard, without any lines, and you
may count them rs make them.
Class-One! two! three! four! five!
six! seven! eight!
U. J.--What Mary?
M.-The last one does not belong to
the dipper.
U. J.-That is true. But we shall
see pretty soon why have it here with
the dipper. And now, I am sorry to
say that must talk alone for little
while, just to save some of our time. l
wonder if you know that there is a
great dipper, looking very much like
this up in the sky? Yes, there is one.
And it has four stars for the cup or
bowl, two others for the handle, and
one more for the ring; a great dipper
made OF seven stars! And I wanted Just
ito tell You a few things about it this
evening, and leave you to see if you
can find it when you go home. OF
course, I could go right out with you
now, and point it out to you. But that
would spoil the pleasure you will have
in finding it for yourselves. won't
even tell you which way in the heavens
to look for it.
But now. I will tell you three things
about it: First. when you do find it, if
you will look Mt these two stars oppo-
site the handle, and follow the direc-
tion in which they point, right up to
that bright star, you will come to the
North Star! That is called the ..North
Star" because it is directly over the
North Pole of the earth; and these two
stars are called the ''Pointers;" why,
Alicep
A.-Becausc they point to the North
Star.
u. J.-Yes. Well, the second thing
want to tell about this dipper is that
this star here ut the end of the handle,
when you look closely at it, is two
stars, q bright one and u dim one, that
seem very close together; and the dim
one is beautiful double star; but If
we look at it through one of these ma
chimes called telescopes, (" it would ap-
pear, as it really is, two great, bright |
stars. There are thousands of double
stars among all the stars that we see |
every night, but this is one Of the most |
interesting of them.
"The dipper was originally called |
'Charleswain' or Wagon. 1t is part of |
the constellation or star group, Ursa |
Major, the Great Bear, the dipper han |
die representing the tail of the bear,
The name of the double star, the mid |
die one Of the three in the BEARS tail,
Is Mizar. The Pole Star is also double |
star.
"The most interesting thing l was
going to tell you is this, II long,
straight wire could be stretched all the |
way from that North Star to the North |
Pole of the earth on which we live, and |
thatwire could be run straight through
the earth to the South Pole. aud then |